


Solstice

by sagio93



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dark Harry, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 05:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12382137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagio93/pseuds/sagio93
Summary: With the War over, all Harry wanted was to settle down and live out the rest of his life in peace with his family. And he got his wish, for a few years at least. The muggles, rose up, and revolted. Apparently magic wasn't something they wanted polluting their world. With almost all the magical beings dead, and quite a few muggles with them, what should Harry do? Not seeing a way forwards, Harry decides to go back save all those who died in vain the first time. Join Harry as he relives his life, what should he do about Voldemort? And having lived through two wars now, he is of course darker than Dumbledore expects his eleven year old saviour to be.





	1. 1.Brumalis

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters, they all belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 1. Brumalis (Latin: wintry; during winter; connected with winter solstice)

All it took was one parent of a muggle born child, and bam; the whole world was thrown into chaos. The magical world hadn’t thought before that since the muggles obviously didn’t have magic, magical oaths wouldn’t bind them. After being outed to the muggles the magical world held its collective breath, thinking the witch burnings would start all over again. But the violence never came, it was only really the fanatics who took issue with the existence of witches and wizards; and no one really listened to them anyway.

Most muggles thought magic was great, how much more could they get done now that they had access to this incredible power. How many more lives could they save with this new approach to medicine? The possibilities seemed endless. It was only after several years that things became sour. A magical child had been born into a family of religious fanatics and when their letter finally came on their eleventh birthday, rather than giving up their beliefs they gave up their child to an illegal laboratory. When the school teacher came round to show them round the magical areas the door was slammed in her face and she was roughly told that ‘The freak isn’t here anymore’. Suspecting the worst the DMLE were contacted and finding the facility in which the girl was being kept, they attacked. This was the tipping point, in all those years the muggles had never really grasped what it meant to have magic; never realised that a wand could be a weapon and that the magicals had claws. So they struck back, they used all their resources to make sure there were no magicals left. They didn’t care about the muggles caught in the crossfire, if they had to kill 400 muggles to kill 1 magical it was worth it. The planet was dying too, the muggle governments had authorised chemical weapons, spreading illness through animals and humans alike, the diseases didn’t distinguish between magical and muggle. More devastating though was the radiation that permeated the earth, nuclear bombs had been dropped on areas with a large magical population, the destruction of Hogwarts was horrific. They’d attacked while the school was in session so that all the students had no warning and no escape.

As the magical population dwindled they all gathered under one banner, hiding together giving each other comfort. Among these was one Harry Potter, he was still remembered for his victory over 40 years ago, but these days was just one of those still struggling to survive in this malevolent world. Thankfully his years as an auror and living on the run from Voldemort had come in handy, he’d set up a complex set of protections around their camp and he himself often lead the foraging expeditions to bring back food for the group. On this night however he had decided to go hunting alone, Harry needed the time to think, it had been so long since he had lost all his friends and family, yet the wounds still seemed fresh. The camp had helped but everyone had lost loved ones and they all knew they couldn’t hold out much longer. Harry tiredly flopped down onto a fallen log thinking about the horrors he had seen over the last eight years. He remembered Ron, his body being torn apart by a machine gun whilst they were on patrol together. He remembered Ginny, he hadn’t seen her die, but he had seen the body, scratched, bloody and bruised, rope burns around her wrists, ankles and neck. Hermione flashed across his mind, standing up as the Minister for Magic advocating peace and equality, only to be struck down from behind by a lone gunman.George had been caught in the blast that destroyed Diagon Alley, along with the hundreds of other magicals who were there shopping that day. Molly and Arthur had died peacefully just months before the conflicts started, Harry would be forever grateful that they had only had to bury one of their children. He thought of his own wonderful children, James, Albus and Lily; Teddy too he thought of as his own son. They had all been at Hogwarts the day of the attack; Teddy and Victoire had recently taken up teaching positions in DADA and Arithmancy. Harry remembered the hundreds of small bodies strewn among the great stones that were the only remnants of the once great castle. The grounds which used to be run across by scores of excitable students now burned with unquenchable flames, deathly silence hanging in the air. 

Harry’s revery was only broken by an orange flash out of the corner of his eye, glancing in that direction he sees a flash, and suddenly everything is burning, a wave of hot air rushes over him and Harry realises he is now laying on the ground. 

They must have found the camp.

Harry ran, his chest aching, struggling to breathe and wheezing. His legs were tiring quickly, his muscles too old and worn to keep up with this strain. He soon fell to the ground exhausted, the leaves and grass crisp from the heat of the flames. In the deafening quiet he began to hear the steady chopping of a muggle helicopter, he knew that he couldn’t escape the muggle soldiers if they used their infrared to work out where he was. Usually he wouldn’t use magic, the energy spike would alert the muggles to their whereabouts. But he now had nothing to lose. He focussed on the one place he had felt safe during the last war. Destination, Determination, Deliberation. Harry closed his eyes and felt himself being squeezed through a tube, spinning at a thousand miles per hour, he hit the floor groaning at the impact. 

Harry looked around the kitchen he had crashed into and immediately sneezed from all the dust he had disturbed at his landing. It looked as if it hadn’t changed at all since he had been there so many years ago. Struggling to his feet and leaning on the table standing in the centre of the room, Harry closed his eyes, trying to stop the barrage of painful memories that seemed to be flying past his eyes. He saw his friends seated at that very table, at christmas, before even Sirius had died. He glanced towards the door, looking towards the lounge where Hermione had painstakingly spent hour after hour trying to teach Ron how to play the piano, even in the darkness that had been the great war against Voldemort, there had been times of light. Now however was different, there was no happiness, his life appeared to be entirely grey. And now he was the only magical being left on the entire planet. Harry imagined that he also wouldn’t be lasting too long now. The nuclear fallout would begin to spread soon, and in time most life on the planet would be dead. 

\--------------

Time seemed to pass slowly for Harry now, only leaving to go and get food, being in London, it was easy to pop out to the shops, and having grown up in the non-magical world, it was easy enough for Harry to blend in for the short periods of time needed so long as he didn’t use any magic.

\-------------

His life seemed to have no meaning anymore, he couldn’t talk to anyone, and spending all his time cooped up in Grimmauld was not doing anything for a positive mentality. Neither was the knowledge that he would be the last magical ever to live, it wasn’t like he could have any more children with another magical, and he certainly couldn’t risk any further relations with a muggle. 

\-------------

It was time, the smog had filled London, even the muggles didn’t go out without masks. If anyone stepped foot outside, they saw all the governmental warnings about the nuclear fallout that had now spread to the enormous city. Harry had quite honestly had enough, he wasn’t even sure why he had left it for this long. He had had no reason to live since the camp had been destroyed, with no human company for several months now, Harry had become more and more depressed. Not sure whether the killing curse worked when cast directly at oneself, Harry levelled his wand at a mirror mounted in the hall. Taking a deep breath he steeled himself, looking determinedly at his reflected. ‘Quicker and easier than falling asleep’. The words spoken so many years ago filled his mind. He’d get to see Sirius, and Remus again, he’d get to see his family, not only his parents, but his wife and children, his friends. It had been so long now, a tear rolled its way down the side of Harry’s face. 

‘Avada Kedavra’

A flash of green.

And then blackness.


	2. 2. Corporo

Chapter 2. Corporo - Latin: kill, strike dead; form into a body; furnish with a body

For the second time in his life, Harry woke up surrounded by white. It was too bright, opening his eyes, Harry squinted trying to adjust to the sheer brightness of the room. He looked around, and caught sight of a figure, breathing a sigh of relief Harry stood up, taking a step towards the man.

‘Albu-’ He stopped, that wasn’t Albus. 

Last time he died, Albus was there. He knew he was dead now, so who was this? And why wasn’t Albus here this time?

‘He’s moved on now Harry.’

‘Wait, what?’

‘When you died the first time, Albus knew you would be arriving here soon, so he waited for you. This time, however, was not part of his plan, so obviously he needn’t wait for you anymore.’

‘Oh, well okay. So who are you? I don’t think I’ve met you before, so why have you waited for me to die? And, if I’m dead, when do I move on? It’s not like I’ve got anyone to wait for now is it.’

The figure seemed to shrug and glanced at Harry with a look of pity. ‘No I don’t suppose you do, even those muggles you called family died several years ago, not that you’d be particularly saddened by that. As to when you move on, you see that’s a bit more tricky with you. It’s not exactly a normal thing for someone to combine all three of my Hallows.’

‘Right… right, you’re Death, okay, yep Death. That’s fine, perfectly normal. Death, Death’s an actual thing, a person. You’re Death?’ Harry was definitely fine, not panicking at all, nope not panicking. The figure just stared at Harry expectantly as if waiting for something else.

‘So what happens to me now then? Can I move on? How does me having the Hallows make any difference to this? It’s not like any of those kid’s stories were true. Why on Earth would you have made three objects that would chain you to a mortal being? I was a child when I had the Hallows, you would have bound yourself to a child.’

‘Well, yeah, it might not have been a very sensible idea. But I’d like to see you flow through the inanity of eternity without making a few mistakes from being so very very bored. I will admit I wasn’t exactly happy when you managed to get your hands on them. I thought you’d have figured it all out a lot earlier though. I was expecting to be called upon for every little thing, I mean I wasn’t looking forward to following the whim of a teenager. But you just ignored it, you went on with your life and forgot about the Hallows, even in all the recent years of chaos and bloodshed, you never called. So I figured out you didn’t know. And now you do. You, Harry James Potter, are the Master of Death. That’s why you can’t move on. That’s why you’re incredibly tricky to deal with now you’re dead. 

‘Huh, and I was hoping that in death I’d be as normal as everyone else. But no, I’m still a massive freak; the one thing that all humans manage to do, DIE, and I can’t even do that.’

‘Indeed, so sorry about that, but if your self pitying is mostly over, let’s be moving on. We need to work out what to do with you Master. As I can see it you have a few options: You could be reincarnated in this world, reborn as such you wouldn’t remember anything of course, though I wouldn’t recommend this one, you’d still be magical and really I wouldn’t want to live on that planet right now. Number two, another dimension, again reborn. Number three, be reborn into your own timeline, any point you like, then you can go and do it all over again, maybe change things up here and there; you’d remember your previous life if you went with this one.’

‘Right then, okay, Number one is out, I don’t think I’d survive very well as a magical child in the current world. Number two sounds promising, but potentially it’d be the same as Number one; leaving Number three, this I really am excited about, I could go and correct all the mistakes I made, I could change the course of history, stop the muggles rising up against us, save the magical world without them knowing it. The only real question is where should I go back to? Probably not when I was born, don’t really want to live through the early years at the Dursleys’ again, they’d probably all end up dead. Eleven sounds pretty reasonable, just before I head to Hogwarts. Yeah, if I left it much later than that, fourth year would be too late, Voldie would be back again. Eleven sounds good Death, just before I got my Hogwarts letter.’

‘Very well, you might want to close your eyes and hold tight, I don’t know what this is going to feel like to you.’

Harry did just that. Squeezing his eyelids shut and gritting his teeth anticipating pain; what e felt was more like the tubular sensation of apparition, a bit faster and more wild than normal but hey. 

The spinning and squeezing stopped, and Harry tentatively opened his eyes, hoping beyond hope that this crazy scheme had worked. Darkness, he was in darkness. Sighing Harry was about to get to his feet when he saw the light outline of something to his left; he knew that outline, it was light seeping through the gap around the door. He was in his cupboard. Harry reached up and began to feel the floorboards of the stairs above his head, tracing reverently the lines down them, like he had done as a child. He had made it, and Harry now, more than ever knew that his actions needed to make a real difference.


	3. 3. Anastasis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up at the Dursleys, in his cupboard after all these years, Harry starts to make plans.

Chapter 3. Anastasis: Latin (Early Medieval) - resurrection

 

‘Right, then’ Harry thought ‘time to start planning this thing’ . Harry knew that saving the world would much more difficult than he had been anticipating; he knew it certainly wouldn’t be easy. Somehow Harry had to convince the light faction that the muggles were dangerous and that they needed to undertake action to prevent their own destruction; and, at the same time stop the dark faction from attacking the muggles outright, thereby provoking them to violence. Not only did Harry have the issue of playing both sides, he needed to control the ministry and the general populace whilst being an eleven year old child. Even being the boy-who-lived didn’t give him that much power; heck, after defeating Voldemort in his previous life, he certainly couldn’t have won the hearts of the nation and government. Harry knew there was no way that he was going to be able to please everybody. He had his work cut out for him.

Thinking about the Ministry led Harry to two option; either he could enter the ministry as an employee after Hogwarts, and work up the political food chain until he reached the top, it had taken nearly 40 years after Voldemort’s defeat for the magical world to be found last time, so he certainly had time to go this route if he so wished. But, they might not have that much time, especially with Harry shaking things up, who knew whether one of the consequences would be the muggles catching wind of them early. 

Route two of course was a tad more simple; Harry knew from his previous life that he held a couple of seats at the Wizengamot; not anything crazy, just Black and Potter; though with becoming Master of Death, he may have inherited the Peverell seat in this life; Harry remembered that that chair had always been empty, if it was possible, that would be a great boon to Harry, given that no one really knew where the Peverell line had disappeared to over the last few centuries. Certainly, if he could convince the goblins to allow him access to the Peverell seats it would be a massive help in his plans; a somewhat neutral, very powerful, very ancient house would be just the sort of backing he would be needing within the wizarding elite. 

School would probably be an issue though; Harry knew he’d have to attend Hogwarts, no matter how trivial it may seem, learning the same things over again; it would be far too suspicious if he decided not to attend, plus he could start gaining followers there, starting early couldn’t hurt. The main question really was whether he should wait until he had graduated from Hogwarts to start campaigning in earnest. If he did so, he would have to use his own name. If not, though, he’d have to use another identity, no one would respect an eleven year old, and it’s not like he’d be able to get permission to skip classes to attend the Wizengamot sessions; plus he’d have to go through Dumbledore, something he wasn’t so sure of right now.

Dumbledore was a bit of an unknown to Harry right now; while he had been a powerful figure in the war against Voldemort, he had no idea how the Headmaster would react to having to unite with the dark against the muggles. Dumbledore as the leader of the light had always preached the innocence and worth of muggles; though how much of that he actually believed Harry wasn’t certain of, he must have known that not all muggles were harmless and lovely, they had in essence killed his sister, and although Albus had done his best to mostly ignore what was happening with Grindelwald, surely he couldn’t have not known the monstrosities committed by muggles during that time? If Harry decided to use politics to fulfill his goals, how much resistance would Albus give? Being the chief mugwump, and the head of the ICW he certainly had pulling power in the political sphere. 

And Dumbledore’s biggest opponent currently in politics: Lucius Malfoy, the leader of the traditional sector. If it was going to be difficult to persuade the light that the muggles posed any sort of danger, and they should prepare for it; to persuade the dark that there wasn’t a need to go out and eradicate all muggles was going to be really tricky. Not only that but they’d have to come to a sort of compromise with muggle-borns. Lucius wouldn’t want the mud-bloods, the dark would most certainly push for them being left to perish with their parents. They wouldn’t see the threat the muggle-borns posed to the statute of secrecy, they wouldn’t see the fresh magic that they would bring in, bringing new life to the stagnating in-breed pureblood family trees. 

But it wasn’t just the bigger picture that Harry had to worry about now, no, the tiny details that would build up his plan were just as important. Harry still didn’t know how he would utilise his seats while he was at Hogwarts, he supposed someone could sit in proxy for him , but then he’d just be casting votes, not making any changes, his proxy wouldn’t be able to join in any debates. But what about Harry’s life at Hogwarts, where should he be sorted? While Slytherin would probably be the most comfortable, given how much older he would be than his peers, the general populace wouldn’t readily follow a Slytherin; that and even after all these years, Harry still didn’t fancy the idea of dorming with an eleven year old Draco Malfoy, while the boy had grown up later in life, in the first few years Harry had known him Malfoy was a whiny, spoilt, sheltered child, with a superiority complex that would put Tom Riddle’s to shame. 

Gryffindor was the obvious choice for influencing the light. The magical population would be most likely to listen to him if he was a Gryffindor, the quintessential hero who would save them all; and if he wanted to garner his old friendships again that was definitely the way to go. But did he want those friendships? They had supported him against all the odds in his last life, but now with the amount of life experience he had he would likely just be humouring them more than anything. And with the planning that Harry had to be doing over the next few years he wasn’t sure if the rowdy environment was going to hinder him too much; of course there was also Hermione to consider, while she would know that muggles are not just harmless idiots, Harry didn’t think that she’d take kindly to his suggestions of seperations, especially when the issues of muggleborns would come up. Plus, taking the stand of the light would just alienate the dark that he would also be trying to court to his side.

Ravenclaw might be nice Harry thought. He would probably get the most time to himself there, leaving him able to achieve his aspirations. His knowledge and magic that he had retained from his previous life would also be explained away as being an over-achieving student if he was placed there too, and if he needed to go anywhere, his absence from the common spaces would probably just be assumed as him studying. All this would be really useful to Harry and his plans, but he would have to keep up with studies at the same time as revolutionising the wizarding world, if he was in any of the other houses he could churn out mediocre assignments consistently, and it would be accepted; but being in Ravenclaw he would need to be exceptional, all the time, Harry just wasn’t sure if his brain could take doing all that at once. That and he’d have to put up with the Ravenclaws’ superiority, honestly, they couldn’t understand how being the house that valued knowledge didn’t equate to them being the best at everything. Look at how they treated Luna, Luna who constantly searched for new knowledge was isolated and spurned by her own house.

Harry knew he couldn’t go to Hufflepuff, although he valued hard work he just didn’t think he could survive Hufflepuff, or rather they wouldn’t survive him. He was almost seventy now, as old as Voldemort had been when Harry had defeated him, he was old and he was bitter. The Puffs would notice if Harry isolated himself in his working, and they would try to change that; but his plans needed so much attention that he wouldn’t be able to exert himself to fit in and accomplish them. That’s not to say that Harry wouldn’t try to win them over, the Puffs had their fair share of both sects and were a fairly neutral house; if Harry could win their support he would be in luck.

Harry supposed he didn’t need to make up his mind just yet. He still had a month after all, until he would need to leave for school. A month. A whole month with just the Dursleys. He had forgotten about that. Harry had been so excited and anxious to change everything for the better, that he had forgotten the torment he’d have to go through before he could even start. He knew one thing though, his letter was coming today, and he certainly wasn’t going to let it burn this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there isn't much plot advancement in this chapter but it does set the scene for where the plot might go. I got a couple of comments on house placement on the last couple of chapters, I haven't quite decided where Harry will be going so we'll have to see!


	4. 4. Primordium

Chapter 4. Primordium (Latin: first beginning, origin, commencement, beginnings)

 

Harry’s ponderings were broken by a rapping on his cupboard door followed by Petunia’s shrieking voice ordering him to get up. Groaning, Harry rolled off of the thin mattress which he slept on, and still bent over made his way out of his now unlocked door and through into the kitchen where he’d be making breakfast. Even after so many years Harry fell straight back into the routine he used to follow for making breakfast; putting the kettle on the stove to heat up and starting to cook the eggs and bacon while preparing a teapot and setting the table. Harry knew he had slightly more time than usual to make breakfast today, being a Saturday Vernon would be taking his time to come downstairs; so Harry would, at least this morning be able to do everything right, meaning he might be able to snag some food for himself

As Vernon lumbered through the door to the kitchen diner Harry promptly plated up his food and took it to Vernon’s place at the table, and after pouring a steaming cup of tea returned to the kitchen to watch the food until Petunia returned with Dudley. All this waiting was making Harry jittery, he still wasn’t sure what he was going to do about his letter and about the Dursleys, and it wasn’t like he could think about it now either, he couldn’t afford to let breakfast burn. Finally his Aunt and cousin came and sat down meaning Harry could plate up the rest of the food and begin the washing up, thankfully it just the frying pan and a couple bowls so Harry was able to eat an egg and a small rasher of bacon before his family had finished eating and he had to tidy everything up again. When Harry had almost finished making the kitchen pristine again he heard the letter box clack and his heart stopped, it was time.

‘Go get the post Dudley’

Harry felt faint, what if Dudley got the post and saw the letter addressed to Harry what if he ruined everything-

‘Make Harry get it!’

‘Get the post boy’

Harry felt himself breathe again, he dried his hands on a teatowel and then went into the hall, trying desperately to keep a smile off his face. 

There it was.

The heavy cream parchment amongst the other rubbish for the Dursleys, picking up all the letter Harry walked back past his cupboard, slipping his own letter through a crack and went back into the dining room. It would do him no good to arouse any suspicion and take too long out in the hallway, he could read his letter later, for now he would be patient, he was not an eleven year old child any more, but an old man with too much time on his hands. He handed the pile of letters to his uncle then stepped back.  
‘Finish tidying up and then back to your cupboard until you’re needed.’

‘Yes Uncle Vernon’

With his instructions Harry retreated to the kitchen while his family chattered on. Washing and drying everything up before wiping down the surfaces and putting all the cleaning products away Harry continued on as though this was a regular Saturday morning. Checking to see that everything had been done Harry smiled and returned to his cupboard, closing the door and flicking on the light. Picking up the letter Harry let his fingers trace reverently over the familiar swirling letters before turning the envelope over and breaking the wax seal, letting the parchment fall open. Running his eyes over words Harry breathed a sigh of relief, it was all the same, every word, so far everything was going to plan, time to step it up. Clenching the letter in his hand Harry made to exit the cupboard, but stopped. The letter, it felt strange, it felt like magic. Maybe it had felt this way last time but he hadn’t noticed it, not having been around magic for as long as he had now. Just to be sure Harry flicked his hand over the parchment, casting a spell to scan for any tampering to the letter. His brows furrowed when letters started to appear hovering over the paper, he had hoped it would come back clean, but it didn’t look as though his luck had held; though at least he had caught it before he had done anything with the letter, time to start damage control he thought. The first word that had a appeared was merely the sequorus charm, a relatively benign tracking charm, probably cast by the Headmaster in case his relatives tried to evade the wizarding world, something which Harry new had certainly happened before. The next spell that appeared was coactus, a spell that Harry had little knowledge of, but could guess from the Latin that it was some sort of compulsion charm, looking at the strands of the charm in more detail Harry could see that it was some sort of negative compulsion aimed at his muggle relatives, he guessed that it would take as soon as they touched the letter. But why would someone want to coerce the Dursleys away from the idea of sending Harry to Hogwarts? Harry supposed that otherwise the Dursleys would be fairly happy for him to be going, getting rid of him for nine months out of the year certainly seemed beneficial to them. But if they hated the idea of him going, and tried to stop him, then of course whoever had him rescued from their ‘evil’ clutches would hold Harry’s gratitude. Well then, probably Dumbledore, Harry knew that many of the old Headmaster’s actions towards young Harry had been with his eventual sacrifice in mind; not that he hated the man for it, no Harry quite understood the notions of sacrifice in war, he simply did not agree with the man’s philosophy. Harry would have rathered that Albus had trusted him to do the ‘right thing’ in the end, rather than being blindly guided towards that goal, Harry did not exactly see himself as a means to an end as Dumbledore had, and preferred to think that no person should be treated as a means, but rather as an end themselves.

With a quick tug on the charm it unravelled and was now harmless, but Harry decided to move the tracking charm rather than destroy it, instead he picked the end away from the paper and attached it to one of the small toy soldiers that he had on a shelf and slipped the figure into a pocket of his oversized trousers. Knowing that the letter was a fairly safe and easy way to intimidate the Dursleys he picked it up again and turned the handle of his door, taking a deep breath; he stepped back into the dining room and spoke calmly.

‘Uncle, Aunt. I received my Hogwarts letter today, I will be replying before going to buy my equipment.’

His statement was met with silence; a paling of his Aunt’s face, and a sudden purpling of his Uncle’s.

‘I will also be needing to move out of the cupboard, perhaps into Dudley’s second bedroom?’ He continued politely, only to be meet with furious spluttering.

‘You will do no such thing! We took you in out of the goodness of our hearts and kept you -’

‘No. You took me in only because you were threatened to. You kept me as a slave. The least that you could have done was left me in an orphanage, I would have had a better upbringing there. Now, there is nothing to be done, I must stay here at this house, but you do not want me here. We are therefore at an impasse. If you give me your son’s second bedroom you will not need to see me or hear from me for the next seven years until I am able to move away from this address. I will cook for myself, clean for myself, even enter and exit this property without crossing your sight, you will not need to acknowledge my existence. Will you acquiesce? 

‘We will’ Petunia cut in before her unthinking husband could have a chance to lose this opportunity for them.

‘Very well, Dudley?’

The boy squeaked.

‘The broken things in your second bedroom, do you want them or may I dispose of them?’

‘N-no, I don’t need them.’

‘Good. Well then dear family I suppose this is a kind of goodbye then.’

With that Harry walked out of the room holding his head up before subtly casting a silencing charm and a memory dampener into the room, the Dursleys would barely be able to remember the conversation, and even if they remembered enough to talk about it, they wouldn’t be able, making his way up the stairs to his new abode a maniacal grin spread across Harry’s face, that couldn’t have gone better. Now he could keep Dumbledore’s suspicion off of himself, whilst never having to lay eyes on the Dursleys again. And all before noon!

Entering the smallest bedroom of the Dursleys’ house Harry sneered at all the clutter occupying the room from floor to ceiling, before waving his hand and vanishing it all to who knows where. He began by adding runes to his doorway which would keep his relatives out and keep any magic he did with his future wand undetected. After doing that Harry thought about the Weasley’s tent and the tents that the resistance had all lived in while they were hiding from the muggles. Expansion charms. That’s how it was done. Harry set up several across the box room and set doors to each one, now he had extra rooms that he could use. Of course, he would need a bathroom, a bedroom, and a kitchen but that was the bare minimum really, Harry had set four charms, giving him a total of five rooms, he could use one of the extras as a kind of lounge somewhere he could relax, and the room he was currently standing in he would set up as a decoy room in case, as had happened in his previous life, wizards needed to come and pick him up, this would be the room they would see. If he warded the other rooms to only be visible to him and only accessible with his blood that would work. He had done that several times during the final war, not that it had helped much once the muggles had started to use heat seeking technology. 

Harry spent the next few hours transfiguring and conjuring items, readying his new home, he’d never seen a wizarding home-wear shop so he imagined that this was how the wizarding world set up home most of the time. He set up his bathroom, creating a water holding device that would catch water from outside, if there wasn’t enough a few aguamenti would do, with a basic heating charm for showers and baths. The toilet was fairly easy, a vanishing charm around the u-bend would do the trick nicely. He decorated his bedroom in calming colours, Harry didn’t sleep well at the best of times, let alone with the walls being bright red as they were in the Gryffindor dorms. With everything done Harry collapsed onto his new sofa, he’d take a quick nap and then head over to Diagon. Magic could do a lot, but it couldn’t conjure food, Harry needed money to stock his kitchen, and for that he needed to see the goblins.


	5. 5. Paciscor

Chapter 5. Paciscor (Latin: make a bargain or agreement; enter into a contract; negotiate)

Waking up a short hour after he had flopped onto his new sofa Harry could feel that his magic had replenished from all the work he had done earlier; it was time to head off then. Quickly transfiguring his current clothes into a hooded robe and placing a notice-me-not around himself Harry apparated away with an almost indistinguishable POP. The short, cloaked figure appeared out of thin air with practised ease in the middle of an alleyway and spun on his heel heading off in the direction of a rather tired and greasy looking pub, rather than asking Tom to open the alleyway for him Harry kept his head down and made his way out the back, channeling magic into his finger-tips before tapping the pattern into the bricks, three up and two across. As the bricks began to shift and quiver, opening up that fantastical world that Harry had once called home a wide smile spread across his face; this was home, the chaos, the noise and the colour that was magic, this he had missed; it had been too long since diagon had been closed in his time and fear had filled the streets. Now though, he could see the hussle and bussle, the delighted shouts of young children and the good natured chatter that permeated the air around. And in the centre a sparkling bright white Gringotts. 

During the War on Magic the muggles had attempted to destroy Gringotts and the goblins within, but their wards had held tight until the end, most of the goblins had, like the wizards, retreated to underground, hiding their existence, but the warrior race had kept up a secure presence at the bank refusing to hide their existence and drawing all human attention on them at that location, allowing the rest to hide. While the muggles had never succeeded in entering the bank, the last time that Harry had laid eyes on the building it was charred and blackened from the muggles constant attacks; after they had marred the beauty of Gringotts the goblins assisted the rest of the magical world in their guerilla attacks on the muggle military. And whilst the goblins had long ago retired from all out warfare on wizard-kind they remained skilled tacticians and fearsome fighters. Having worked with the goblin fighters during the resistance Harry held a great respect for them and their ways, whilst most wizards disliked the blunt and brutish approach that the goblins took to politics, Harry had adapted and was prepared to engage once more in that dance. 

Striding with confidence towards the glistening steps, Harry felt his heart pounding with anxiety and excitement, he knew this was going to be fun. Bowing slightly to the guards either side of the cavernous doorway and bringing his right arm to cover his chest in greeting, Harry received a bow in return. It was the greeting of warriors, and while Harry had not proved himself in this skin, he remained a warrior. Heading to a free teller Harry repeated the gesture, and dropped his notice-me-not allowing the goblin to properly focus on the boy before him. The goblin bowed slightly in return as if bemused by this young child’s greeting. 

‘I need to access my vaults’

‘Key.’

‘I do not have it, to my knowledge it is in the possession of one Albus Dumbledore, I wish for that one to be made invalid, and a new one keyed to me, blood of course.’  
‘Of course, to ascertain your properties we will need a small sample of your blood anyway, we can do these at the same time, on this parchment, and this key then, Young Sir.’ The goblin was still looking amused at the small figure in front of him. And placed before Harry a large golden key, a thick piece of parchment and a small letter-opener like blade.

Harry speedily nicked the outside of his left index finger, knowing a small cut there could not inconvenience him much, pressed it to both the key and the paper before passing his other hand over it discretely to heal it up again. The key glowed to accept him, proving his claim to an already existing vault below the bank, but the interesting part was just beginning, slowly blurred words were beginning to form on the parchment, the first name to form was his own full name ‘Hadrian Jameson Potter’ heir to the Potter line. This he knew of course but the goblin’s eyes started to open and the teller glanced to Harry in surprise. The line underneath began to form too ‘Black’ heir apparent, after Sirius of course. The third line ‘Peverell’ good that was expected all was going to plan. Except there was one more line that had yet to come into focus, what on earth was Death playing at, this definitely wasn’t there last time; Harry held his breath as the squiggles slowly became words ‘Fawley’... Harry let himself breathe out having feared the worst, but this wasn’t bad, just a minor extinct pureblood house. Being heir just meant that he was the first to claim being related closely enough. Good grief, he thought all his plans had been scuppered by that last line, the panic drained out of him and Harry looked up at the goblin. 

‘I’ll be needing to see an accounts manager.’

‘But of course, through that door on the right at the end, take your key and parchment with you.’

‘You have my thanks’ Harry repeated his bow and turned towards the door before smiling, it was all going to plan. Entering through the large door, Harry was directed by a young goblin through an office like corridor until he reached a large wooden door with a golden plaque that read ‘Ulnore - accounts manager’. Good, Harry thought, time to get this really started.

Harry gave a loud rap on the door and waited for it to open before entering and sitting in the chair positioned before a large desk. Glancing around the room Harry appreciated the rather spartan look of it, compared to the rest of Gringotts which was very grandiose, the office was grey, with the goblin’s clan armour on a stand at the side and his various weaponry affixed to the walls. Harry knew that Goblins often waited a while before beginning negotiations so as to frustrate or intimidate the wizard that they would be bargaining with, it was only once you had the respect of a goblin that they would treat you as such, so Harry waited patiently playing with his magic, making it visible, spinning and weaving it through the air until the door handled gave a clack. Harry’s magic dropped as though there had been nothing there the entire time and a rather young looking goblin stepped through the door; he must have only just become a manager, really, giving such a prestigious house as the Peverells to an inexperienced goblin was almost an insult. Honestly, if Harry was any other Pureblood the goblins would have a lot of trouble on their hands. 

‘Greetings, sir’ The goblin opened with, making his way around to the back of the desk before being seated and looking at Harry. The shock at seeing such a young boy in front of him was evident in the goblin’s face, given that this was likely his first holding as a qualified banker he really should have been given an easier vault.

‘They didn’t tell you who your client is did they?’ Harry asked amused by this situation, well the young goblin was certainly going to learn a lot from managing Harry’s accounts over the next few years.

‘No.’ At that Harry slid his parchment across the desk for the goblin to read, and once again watched his face as first shock and then confusion spread over it.

‘This makes no sense, I shouldn’t have been given your vault, a more experienced goblin should be handling this.’

‘Indeed it likely was a mistake, but no matter, we are here now, and you are my account manager, unless you don’t want the job?’ The goblin flustered for a few seconds before coherently agreeing ‘Firstly I need to claim my titles’

‘You’re far too young, you can’t inherit unt-’ 

‘Yes until I’m of age, yet only for Black am I heir apparent, the rest I am heir, meaning I can inherit now.’

Ulnore glanced over the parchment again rereading Harry’s properties.

‘Yes, it does say that, how unusual, I suppose you can take up your titles now, will you be taking all of them at once?’

Harry pondered this for a moment before coming to a decision, it would be very odd to already be Lord Potter and Black, given that it was well known that he was in line for those titles, the Wizengamot would know who had taken them.

‘Just the Peverell and Fawley for now, the heirships of Potter and Black will give voting proxy to them respectively.’

‘I’ll be seeing to the rings for you then Lord-’

‘Peverell, just Peverell, it gets too complicated otherwise.’

‘Of course, Lord Peverell’.

The goblin quickly hurried from the room to retrieve Harry’s Lord and Heir rings and Harry pondered on his future actions, he couldn’t wear his Lord rings at Hogwarts, but he could wear his two Heir ones, that certainly would gain him some respect among the more traditional families at Hogwarts, and as long as he didn’t flaunt it, wouldn’t necessarily alienate any others, having his two heirships openly as well might draw away any suspicions from him if he somehow used either of his two lordships at a later time.

Ulnore came back through the door holding a short rectangular box in his hand before placing it on the table and opening it. Harry could see the Black and Potter rings, he was familiar with those from his last life, having claimed the lordships after defeating Voldemort, Harry quickly slipped them onto the ring finger of his right hand, but pocketed the two lordship rings, he would figure out what to do with those later. Ulnore looked confused at Harry’s actions but did not question them.

‘Lastly’ Harry began ‘I’ll be needing a money pouch, connected to the Potter funds’ 

‘Certainly Lord Peverell.’ Ulnore opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a small moleskin pouch and passed it over to Harry, who nicked himself on one of the bag’s small razor sharp teeth, thereby binding it to him.

‘That’ll be all I think for today Ulnore, I may be back to discuss other matters at a later date, but for now, I shall take my leave.’

‘Of course Sir, I shall bid you a good day, may your business prosper.’

As Harry exited the office door he called back through it ‘And your endeavours never fail.’ leaving the poor goblin with one last shock.

Harry passed a hand over his robe renewing the transfiguration, he knew that these clothes wouldn’t last too much longer, so that meant it was shopping time.

Winding his way back up to the magnificent lobby of the bank Harry made his way over to the exit, bowed again to the guards and upon leaving was blinded by the sun, as he entered the outdoors again. First stop, clothing.


	6. 6. Fraxinus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's shopping time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, sorry for the break my laptop broke and I had to wait for it to be fixed. Anyway, some of you were looking forward to the shopping chapter so here it is.

Chapter 6. Fraxinus (Latin: Spear or Javelin; ashen)

Pulling his hood over his head once more and flattening his mop of hair over his scar Harry headed towards Madam Malkins. It was nearing the middle of the day and the alley was beginning to fill with people, people who Harry did not want to recognise him. 

Seeing that the tailors was empty despite the hour Harry thanked his luck and pulled open the hefty wooden door to the shop, as he stepped inside a bell over the door frame tinkled, altering the owner, who promptly appeared behind the register counter. 

‘Hogwarts dear?’

‘Yes, please. Only first year though so no house for now. I, um, well, I also need quite a few other bits and pieces, pretty much a whole new wardrobe really; sorry to be a pain.’ 

Madam Malkin just smiled, either from the nervous nature of the young lad in front of her, or from the large commission she was about to take, it didn’t matter really, Harry’s approach had obviously worked well. 

‘It’s no problem young sir, your order just might take a little longer than most. Lets get you measured up then, if you would just hop up onto this stool please’ 

Harry followed her directions and was soon being prodded needled and measured for his robes.

‘So, what kind of clothing are you looking for today?’

‘Well, just a couple of every day robes, and a few sets of more formal please, I think neutral colours would probably be best. With a few plainish shirts and pairs of trousers.’

‘Well. We can certainly do that for you, I have all your measurements here now so if you pop back in a few hours, these should all be done for you.’

‘Thank you, I’ll come back when I’ve finished the rest of my shopping.’

Grateful that that shopping had gone as smoothly as he hoped, Harry exited the store in search of the rest of his equipment. First, he thought, he would need a trunk, that way he could easily carry all of his purchases. Heading over to Wiseacres Wizarding Equipment Harry peered inside and caught sight of a large stack of trunks, there were signs across the top and down the sides of the pile listing all the extras that one could pay to have installed, some Harry thought ridiculous, honestly who would pay 8 galleons to have a trunk that could grow legs and do a jig when asked? Others though, looked very useful, the featherlight charm and an inbuilt shrinking charm would be very useful, so by the looks of things would be having multiple separate compartments, each lockable with a different key. Picking up a dark brown leather case Harry heaved it up to the counter, and bought it along with the additions, he was quite pleased that it had only come to 16 galleons, those charms were certainly going to make his life easier. Looking around the shop again Harry spotted some other items on his list, though it would be more expensive to buy them here rather than a second hand shop in Knockturn, he didn’t really have a problem with shelling out the money this time around now that he had linked his pouch directly to his vault. Picking up a telescope and a set of brass scales, Harry bought them before popping them into one of the compartments in his trunk before shrinking it and putting the whole thing into one of his trouser pockets.

Glad to have found such an excellent purchase, especially one that he had never come across last time around, though he figured Moody’s trunk must have come from somewhere, he re-entered the alley with a spring in his step, if he did at some point need to conceal any items, it would be perfectly simple now, and much less suspicious than if he just had an insanely secure school trunk. The first shop that he needed to visit that he walked past was Flourish and Blotts, it looked pretty crowded do he’d have to make sure that his hood wasn’t knocked off amongst the throng. Weaving in between the groups of children and parents Harry gradually picked up all the books that he would be needing for his first year, although he knew all the material like the back of his hand, it would certainly be suspect if he turned up to Hogwarts knowing everything but without any books. Harry also picked up a few extras for his own reading, a few books on wizarding politics and history as well as some more advanced reading on his preferred subjects, a few charms manuals and some potions tomes, a few more obscure works on defense, if he was going to succeed in his plans he would need some fairly advanced knowledge on magic. 

Once all of those had been purchased and stowed away Harry headed on to the Apothecary. He stopped outside, Harry had never really liked potions, but later in life had certainly gotten to grips with them better than he ever had at Hogwarts. Entering the scent of the ingredients within hit like a wall, he really never had liked apothecaries, oh well, he was here now. Picking up his required cauldron, crystal vials and first year ingredients pack, Harry figured he may as well pick up a few extra ingredients in case he had need of them during the year, since he hadn’t quite decided his exact plans he may as well keep his options open. Gathering a few bits and pieces he left and continued on his way.

Eeylops was next along the street and Harry’s heart leapt as he saw his beautiful Hedwig in her cage outside the front of the shop. He had of course already decided that he would get her again, but hadn’t realised that even after so many years his reaction to seeing her would be this strong. His first friend. He would certainly he making sure that he didn’t lose her the same way this time, faithful Hedwig, loyal until the end. Wiping his face and composing himself Harry walked over and gently put his fingers through the bars to stroke her face as he once had always done, she preened into the motion, and Harry beamed, glad that she liked it in this life too, he lovely Hedwig. It took no thought at all to pick her up and buy her there and then, obviously her couldn’t stick her into his trunk so gave her the address of the Dursley house and told her to fly in through his window, she glided off and Harry put away her cage and treats. 

Harry’s final stop on the alley before he would return to Madam Malkins to collect his clothes was Ollivanders. Harry remembered well his first visit to the wand maker those many years ago, and indeed had enjoyed meeting with him several times after the war once Harry had claimed mastership of the Elder Wand. Of all the people Harry had trusted with his secrest Ollivander had always held the biggest, that Harry was the master of the hallows and indeed that wand which he had snapped at the end of the battle of Hogwarts was not in fact the Elder, but another in its place. He had use the wand of death to fix his old Holly one before quickly switching it out with another. Ollivander had taken that secret to his grave, not long before Harry had. Harry knew very well that the Garrick Ollivander that he had known had a certain way of knowing things he ought not too, and so he was rather apprehensive of meeting the man again. 

The door to the old wand shop creaked as Harry pushed it open, and, as usual it looked as though no one was there. Harry, knowing Ollivander’s game of unnerving his customers pretended to glance round as if in search of the owner, seeing Garrick out of the corner of his eye, before turning back around and feigning a jump at the sight of the unkempt man. 

‘Mr Potter, I wondered when I would be seeing you, it seems only yesterday that your mother and father were buying their first wands; but something…’ Ollivander trailed off, and Harry knew that he could tell that something was wrong; since Garrick had never actually told Harry exactly how he knew the things he did, something about a family secret, Harry wasn’t sure whether Ollivander knew what had happened or could just tell that something wasn’t right. After staring intently at the boy in front of him Ollivander seemed to reach a decision, and to Harry’s surprise business continued as normal.

‘I imagine you’re here for your first wand then.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Wand arm out then.’ Harry stuck his right arm out in front of him and Ollivander’s measuring tape got to work; the gaps between his fingers, the circumference of his elbow, the space in between his eyebrows, all manner of measurements were taken before Ollivander called for it to stop.

‘Right then’ and with that Ollivander ran into the back of his workshop and began pulling boxes from shelves, reappearing holding a teetering stack of wands for Harry to try.

‘Lets get started’ he handed the top box to Harry who took out the wand swishing it, a great crash sounded from the next room before that one was plucked from his hand and replaced with another. The process continued through the stack, and through another two piles that Ollivander had brought out the back. ‘A tricky one eh, don’t worry, we’ll find something for you.’ Ollivander disappeared into the stock room once more before returning with a smaller stack this time. ‘We’ll give some of these a go shall we, I hadn’t thought that you’d be suited to them, but we’ll see’ one by one Harry got through another four of them before Ollivander excitedly called for him to stop. Now the wandmaker pulled all the shafts from the boxes and layed them side by side on the table; Harry could see, there the third one in was his old wand, his trusty Holly and Phoenix feather, he felt the pull, but it wasn’t a certain pull, there was another as well. There, second from the end a light wood with a few notches carved into the handle, giving it a ridged grip, the join from the handle to the wand shaft had been carved to look as if it had been braided. 

‘Can you feel any of them, pulling, calling to you, go on hold your hand over them and see.’

‘I, I already feel it sir, but, well, there’s two of them.’ Harry replied, not really sure what to do now, he of course had been used to using two wands, he had been doing so since he was seventeen years old in his last life, but among wizards it certainly wasn’t the norm. 

‘Two?’ Ollivander questioned, ‘which ones?’ He seemed very excited by this possibility, so excited that he was even worrying Harry a little. 

Harry pulled the two forward, the Holly on the left, and the other on the right. ‘Ah yes, Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple’ Harry picked it up feeling the rough bark of the handle against his palm, he had always loved the way his wand had felt in his hand, it wasn’t a pretentious wand, with an elaborate handle, merely the edges had been stripped back to form the smooth centre that housed Fawkes’ feather. Ollivander’s eyes moved to the second wand that Harry had picked out, his eyes widened. ‘I would never have thought, well Mr Potter, this wand is Ash, with Thestral tail hair, twelve and a half, fairly brittle. It’s not usual in the wizarding world to have two wands mr Potter, certainly not at the same time, but these two, well, they are so different that in order for either to work for you, you must have both, you need not use them both, but to be master of one, you must be the master of the other. It is curious indeed how these things happen. The wand, or rather wands chose the wizard Mr Potter, it is good to remember that, for with these two I think we will be seeing great things from you.’ 

After that pronouncement Ollivander fell silent, and so Harry picked up two wand holsters and paid the man before leaving the shop in a bit of a daze. It was true though, while he felt that familiar hum of warmth when he picked up his old Holly wand, it hadn’t felt complete until he too held the Ash. Wondering what this would be meaning for his plans Harry headed back in the direction of Madam Malkins to finish up for the day. 

Once Harry was out of sight Garrick ran out to his house out the back of his workshop, he had promised to tell Albus when the brother wand for Fawkes’ feather had been bought and so he would fulfill that promise. As he was putting pen to paper he slowed, should he also tell his old friend about the boy’s other wand, it could be important. No, he thought Albus had no need to know that information, instead, like with every customer he made a wand for, Garrick would remember, remember until the information was needed. 

Finishing up at the tailors Harry gladly paid the cost before bundling all into his trunk, that would be all for today. Looking at the clock on the far wall of the shop he saw that it was nearing the evening of the day, damn, he’d forgotten to have lunch, he’d have to remember to eat more now, there was no way that Harry wanted to stay as tiny and emaciated as he had been in his previous life. He’d have to grab some food to cook from a muggle store which he could bring back to his kitchen. Walking out of Diagon and onto Gracechurch Street, Harry quickly turned into a nearby convenience store, thankfully he didn’t have to walk too far as there were smaller supermarkets all over London city centre. Asking his pouch for the correct sum of muggle money Harry stocked up on some essentials before finding a darkened alley way and apparating back to his self made apartment inside the Dursley’s house. Greeting Hedwig, and giving her some food and water, Harry fixed himself with a meal before promptly flopping onto his bed. He’d done enough for one day he thought, anything else would have to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't particularly like writing this chapter, it felt a bit too list like so you probably won't be getting any more shopping similar to this, but several of you wanted to see Harry at Diagon so I hope you liked it. x


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